July 4, 2015

Unfortunately, NOT ENOUGH. None of us are. We must do better. Whether we are a coach, an athletic trainer, a parent, or an athlete. We all must do better. Too many of these injuries are occurring and too many of them can be prevented. But they aren’t. They are occurring daily. Female athletes suffer more ACL injuries than their male counterparts and the numbers are alarming. Even more alarming is the fact that those who tear their ACL are at a much higher risk of either re-tearing that same ACL or tearing the ACL in the opposite knee.

July 11, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a research paper I wrote in college about ACL injuries and the Menstrual Cycle. In this article, I will explore a variety of reasons why researchers and clinicians believe females suffer ACL injuries at a rate 4-6 fold greater than their male counterparts.

One thing that must be recognized is the rate of athletic participation is so much greater now than it was in the past. Thus, we have seen a sharp increase in knee injuries in females simply because there are more of them participating in athletics. As you increase the participation numbers, it just makes sense that the injuries would also increase.

The anatomy and physiology of a female is different than that of a male. I think this is something people don’t always recognize. Of course, most know that a male and female have different genitalia and different reproductive systems. But for a lot of people that is where the differences end. This is just the beginning for the medical professional.

I will only briefly mention hormones in this post because that is what the research paper was all about. There is still question as to whether hormones are involved or not, but I believe they are to some degree. I’d suggest you read my research paper to gain more insight into this topic. It’s another condition and injury that female athletes appear to be more susceptible to based simply on their physiology involved in the menstrual cycle. Read the rest of this entry »

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June 27, 2011

This article was written for my Exercise Physiology class while I was in college as a research paper. It is the start of a new series of articles you’ll start to find here. I plan to write more about athletic and orthopedic injuries in the near future. Expect to see a couple more ACL articles in the next week or so.

Over the past several years, athletic participation by female athletes has skyrocketed and there has been a coinciding increase in injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Myer, Ford, and Hewett claim that female athletes are at a 4-to-6-fold increased risk for ACL injury than male athletes who participate at a similar level in a similar sport or activity. There are many factors as to why this would be true and there are probably factors that have not been fully considered as of yet. One of these potential factors is the menstrual cycle and its fluctuation of hormones in the female body causing possible laxity of the ACL as well as other ligaments. The intent of this paper is to explore research that examines how
the menstrual cycle may influence ACL injury rates.